International Festival expected to draw 3,000 people

March 7, 2008

KALAMAZOO--Area residents will have a chance to learn about
other countries as well as sample exotic cuisines during Western
Michigan University's 19th annual International Festival from
4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday, March 16, in the East
Ballroom of WMU's Bernhard Center.

The free event is a global open house that attracts about
3,000 campus and community members each year. International Festival
2008 will feature 15 of the University's international student
groups representing countries on five continents.

Members of the participating student groups will be staffing
display tables and performing native dances as well as fashion
shows. For a nominal fee, they also will be serving some of their
favorite homeland foods, all of which are prepared in campus
kitchens under the supervision of professional employees from
WMU Dining Services.

"International Festival is a great chance to get out
and experience a world of cultures in one place," says Jordan
Hochstetler, the event's programming chair. "Hundreds of
students have worked for months to prepare performances, food,
fashion and displays that showcase the many cultures represented
at WMU and in the Kalamazoo community."

WMU enrolls some 1,000 international students. This year's
festival will spotlight Latino, Muslim and WMU Hillel students
as well as those representing such areas as Africa, Central Asia,
China, Egypt, India, Japan, Malaysia, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan
and Thailand.

The event is being organized by WMU's International Programs
Council and Campus Activities Board and being sponsored by WMU's
Haenicke Institute for Global Education, Division of Student
Affairs, University Cultural Events Committee, Graduate Student
Advisory Committee and Western Student Association.